“A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and, seeing a better country, sets sail. Progress is the realisation of Utopias.” — Oscar Wilde, from The Soul of Man Under Socialism

This is a free MP3 of Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire), the second song on our forthcoming album, “Shangri-La,” and the very first we’re sharing with you. We wrote this song in May of last year, around the time of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and after reading some post-apocalyptic science fiction. At the time, it seemed like the world was a train without brakes, hurtling towards an inescapable future. Now, in March of 2011, that sentiment seems easier and easier to believe, and Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire) is our post-apocalyptic fight song, a cautionary tale, a science-fiction story for our particular eco-socio-political landscape. We face a crisis of Utopia. And yes, maybe we have traded our birthright as partners in the world’s living mind for the broken promises of history, and that’s led us nowhere. But as tempting as it is to give into a horror of our crumbling, radiation-leaking, bomb-launching reality, where the tracks lead is ultimately up to us.

“Shangri-La” will be our second album for DFA Records, and fifth for the world. “Shangri-La” was produced, mixed, recorded, and performed by Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans with our frequent collaborator and touring member Bobby Birdman, at the Marfa Recording Company, Jackpot! Studios, and in our temporary living quarters in Los Angeles, California.

With “Shangri-La,” we assert that the future is a blank slate upon which anything can be imposed.

Paradise is kinetic potential, a latency within us that has been eaten alive by time. In line with the existing emphasis on self-empowerment in the YACHT philosophy, our idea of “Utopia” is personal. We believe that the only real sustainable paradise is in our minds, and hence creative output can be a tangible piece of the Utopia within each individual.

“Shangri-La” is literally YACHT’s Utopia, a place made of songs. We invite you to visit us there this summer.

“Shangri-La” Tracklist:

01 Utopia

02 Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire)

03 I Walked Alone

04 Love in the Dark

05 One Step

06 Holy Roller

07 Beam Me Up

08 Paradise Engineering

09 Tripped & Fell in Love

10 Shangri-La

SPECIAL PRESENTATION: DYSTOPIA TEST PRESSING VIDEO ▼

DFA has started a series called “White Out” where they play test-pressings of their new vinyl arrivals on the office turntable, film it, and share it with the world. Hence this sneak-peek at the upcoming physical copy of Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire), a limited-edition 7″ that we will have available on our upcoming North American tour. Like the video on DFA’s Facebook page and you could win a copy of this very same limited-edition 7″ record, which will be for sale directly from us on tour.

Colophon

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